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| (Pictured: Man in a red tie, colloquially referred to as "Me" PC - Matt Osajima) |
Hello! If you're reading this About Me, you probably already know I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer since I've only "marketed" this blog to friends & family. If, however, you're an intrepid & daring Internet adventurer who's discovered my blog on Page 5 of a Google Search, then welcome and let me introduce myself.
My name is Zachariah Humrich, and I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer in Macedonia. I departed for service on September 21st (To the wild wild west of D.C.), and spent three months in training until I swore-in as an official volunteer early December of 2018. Since then, I've been working as a Community Development volunteer in Macedonia. This blog is pseudo-journal of the adventures I've had here.
I grew up near Savannah, GA in a small suburb called Richmond Hill. Richmond Hill is a quiet, affluent town that evokes the quintessential image of sleepy middle-class American suburbia. It's accurate. The biggest event in my high school career was when we got our first Zaxby's - and let me tell you, everyone was in a real tizzy. Richmond Hill is, however, home to the Great Ogeechee Seafood Festival - an event with zero to little seafood but plenty of rollercoasters, street vendors, and performers. In hindsight, we should rename it to The Great Ogeechee "Let's Get Together Just For Fun" Festival. That's a little less pithy though, so maybe we'll just keep it as is.
I started attending the University of Georgia in August of 2014, and graduated May 2018 with a double-major in Finance & Real Estate from the Terry College of Business. Then with my newly acquired business acumen, I accepted a job with the lowest-paying employer I could find. All part of my dastardly plan to drag down Terry's "Average Starting Salary of a Recent Graduate" statistic. In my defense however, I signed up for all their alumni networking & fundraising emails, so I think we can call it even. Jokes aside, UGA is a tremendous university with a fantastic blend of high academics & compelling campus culture. They recently climbed to a rating of #16 in the USA News & World Public University list. Impressive, right? Now consider that downtown Athens sits right next to campus & has the highest bars per-capita in the nation - 80 in a single square mile. We subscribe to a unique blend of arduous academics & strong spirits. In the words of eloquent & esteemed philosopher Wiz Khalifa, "Work Hard, Play Hard."
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| (Pictured - A bunch of college hooligans PC - Matt Osajima) |
I intended this blog mostly as an avenue for friends & family to be able to keep up with my life while offering me the chance to have a little fun with writing. I hope that you're all able to enjoy my posts, even a year down the line when the newness of the venture has worn off. That said, I also fancy the idea that some young, anxious Peace Corps hopeful preparing to, or already in, the application process will stumble across my website. If that's you, then let me just say "Good luck friend." I remember desperately searching for every tidbit of information on Macedonia & Peace Corps service when I was applying. With a little luck, hopefully I can pay it forward & do the same for someone else.
For those applicants, I've included a timeline below (because God knows every PC applicant loves a timeline) & a couple tips from my own experience applying. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me or get in touch.
------------------------------------------------------My Timeline----------------------------------------------
Late July/Early August 2017 - Peace Corps Macedonia, Community Development Volunteer application opened (simultaneously, I believe the TEFL Volunteer spots opened)
Early September 2017 - I sat down with my local recruiter (UGA had one stationed fortunately) for her advice on my resume & application. I'd met her once before for general tips, but this time I brought my first draft of a PC resume (two pages long, a real shock to a business major who grew up hearing "One page or we throw it out"). This was a huge help, and I recommend it for anyone.
Late October 2017- After redoing my Motivational Statement for the 10th time, I officially submitted.
January 17th, 2018 - Received request to interview.
January 26th, 2018 - Interview & revelation that I'll probably be unemployed forever with my soft skills.
February 7th, 2018 - Invitation to Serve. Frantically stepped out of a tutoring session I was leading to call my mother (to my old tutoring boss if you're reading this: "My bad.")
May 15th, 2018 - Legal Clearance granted - seems they didn't find out about my hardcore illicit activities such as:
- Stealing fistfuls of napkins from restaurants
- Using store restrooms without buying something.
There were a handful of other events (Medical Clearance, sending an extra passport photo for in-country government agencies, etc) but they were either country-specific or not terribly time-sensitive. A couple small pointers I leave for anyone in the application process.
- Don't overthink your Motivational Statement. A good friend of mine recommended to me (as I continued into week 2 of writing paralysis) to just free-form write it. Get everything you want to say out, then go back & edit. It won't be pretty, but it'll give you a starting point.
- The written application, in my opinion, is about showing passion & readiness to overcome inherent obstacles.
- The interview is about assessing whether you're actually going to be capable of overcoming those obstacles. I got the distinct feeling that this is where they test how prepared you'll be (I.E. by seeing what research you've done on the country), and how well you handle adversity. The entire interview (again, my opinion) is structured to put you on the back foot. I was given the questions to be asked before-hand by my interviewer - giving her the chance to then dig in to my answers. Don't try to rehearse said answers, but structure the points you want to make on each question. They'll press you about your response, so it's better to prepare a list of ideas you want to convey & roll with the punches.
- Lastly, good luck with your application and enjoy the ride to becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer!